Privacy Policy

Effective date: September 15, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how APA Citation Builder handles personal data and other information when you use apacitationbuilder.com, the citation workspace, metadata lookup features, the contact form, and related pages.

APA Citation Builder is an independent website operated by Muzammal Amin, based in Italy.

For privacy questions or requests, contact:

contact@apacitationbuilder.com

This policy describes the services currently planned and supported by APA Citation Builder. If we add materially different services, such as accounts, advertising, analytics, cloud synchronization, subscriptions, or new third-party integrations, we will update this policy to reflect the resulting data flows.

1. Who Is Responsible for Your Data?

For the purposes of applicable data-protection law, the person responsible for determining why and how personal data is processed through APA Citation Builder is:

Muzammal Amin Italy Email: contact@apacitationbuilder.com

Under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), this role is commonly called the data controller.

APA Citation Builder is not operated by the American Psychological Association or the University of Turin.

2. Information You Can Use Without Creating an Account

APA Citation Builder does not require an account to use its core citation workspace.

There is no account-based cloud reference library in the current version of the service. Your citation project is not automatically synchronized between devices or browsers.

You can use the citation workspace without providing your name, email address, or account credentials.

However, some technical information is necessarily processed when you visit a website, and additional information may be processed when you choose to use lookup, browser-saving, contact, or backup features.

3. Citation Project Data

The citation workspace can contain information such as:

• author names
• organization names
• publication dates
• source titles
• journal or website names
• publisher information
• volume, issue, and page information
• DOI
• ISBN
• public URLs
• report or dissertation information
• quotation locators
• your project title

Most of this information normally describes published sources rather than you personally. You should nevertheless avoid entering confidential, unpublished, sensitive, or restricted information unless it is necessary and appropriate.

Session-only use

By default, the reference project is held in the browser session while you are using the workspace.

If you leave the page or close the browser without saving or exporting your project, the current project may be lost.

Optional browser saving

If you choose Remember this list on this device, the project is stored in your browser’s local storage.

Local storage is stored on your device and browser profile. It is not the same as an APA Citation Builder cloud account.

Locally stored project data remains there until it is removed by you, your browser, your browser settings, site-data cleanup, private-browsing behavior, or another action that clears local website data.

Other scripts running on the same website origin may technically be able to access browser local storage. Do not use local saving for sensitive or confidential material.

You can avoid optional local saving and instead use the workspace only for the current session.

4. JSON Project Backups

You can export a JSON backup of your citation project.

The JSON file is created for you to save and control. It is intended to help restore project data in APA Citation Builder.

Once you download a backup file, its storage and security are under your control. APA Citation Builder does not automatically receive the file again unless you choose to restore it through the tool.

Do not share a project backup publicly if it contains information you consider private.

5. Metadata Lookup

APA Citation Builder can provide optional metadata lookup when that feature is enabled.

Lookup is not required to create a citation. Manual entry remains available.

Depending on the query, metadata lookup may use third-party services including:

• Crossref for DOI and scholarly metadata lookup
• Open Library for book and ISBN-related metadata

When you actively request a lookup, APA Citation Builder sends the information needed for that request through the website to the relevant service.

Depending on the lookup, this may include:

• a DOI
• an ISBN
• a source title or bibliographic search query

The entire citation project is not sent to Crossref or Open Library merely because you use the citation workspace.

The third-party provider processes the request according to its own systems, terms, and privacy practices. For example, Crossref documents that its API may log request information, while Open Library provides public APIs for bibliographic lookup.

You should review the privacy information of a third-party service if you want to understand its processing in more detail.

6. Metadata Lookup Caching

To reduce repeated external requests and improve performance, successful metadata lookup results may be cached on the APA Citation Builder website for up to 12 hours.

The cache is based on the lookup request rather than your entire citation project.

Cached bibliographic results may include public source metadata returned by the lookup provider.

7. Lookup Rate Limiting

APA Citation Builder uses a short-lived rate-limit mechanism to reduce excessive automated requests to the metadata endpoint.

For this purpose, the website may derive a hashed value from the IP address presented to the site and use it to maintain a temporary request counter.

The current application-level counter is designed to expire after approximately 60 seconds.

This rate-limiting mechanism is intended to protect the service and its external metadata providers from abuse. It is not intended to create a long-term profile of visitors.

Hosting, firewall, content-delivery, or security services may apply their own separate security logging or rate limiting.

8. Public Webpage Lookup

APA Citation Builder may provide optional public-webpage metadata lookup when the website administrator enables that feature.

If you submit a public URL for lookup:

• the URL is sent to the APA Citation Builder server
• the server attempts to retrieve information from that public webpage
• the destination website may receive and log the request made by the server
• useful metadata may be cached temporarily on APA Citation Builder

Do not submit:

• private URLs
• password-protected URLs
• signed download links
• links containing authentication tokens
• internal company or university URLs
• URLs that reveal confidential information in their path or query parameters

Public-webpage lookup is intended for publicly accessible sources.

9. Contact Form and Email

If you use the contact form or email contact@apacitationbuilder.com, we process the information you voluntarily provide so that we can read, investigate, and respond to your message.

This may include:

• your name
• your email address
• the topic you select
• your message
• source information you include
• a public DOI, ISBN, or URL
• technical details you voluntarily provide about a problem

Do not send passwords, API keys, private manuscripts, confidential research data, signed URLs, financial information, medical information, or other sensitive material unless there is a clear and appropriate reason and we have specifically provided a suitable method for doing so.

Contact messages may be processed by the email, hosting, or form-delivery services used to operate the website.

Messages are retained only for as long as reasonably necessary to answer the request, maintain an appropriate record of a correction or support matter, protect the service, or comply with applicable legal obligations.

10. Technical and Server Information

Like most websites, APA Citation Builder and its hosting infrastructure may process technical information necessary to deliver, secure, and troubleshoot the website.

This can include:

• IP address
• browser and device information
• date and time of requests
• requested pages or files
• referring information where supplied by the browser
• server and application error information
• security events

This information may be contained in ordinary web-server, hosting, firewall, or security logs.

We use such information for purposes such as:

• delivering the website
• detecting abuse
• maintaining security
• diagnosing errors
• protecting the citation and lookup services

Technical logs should be retained only for as long as reasonably necessary for those purposes or as required by applicable law and the operational settings of the services used to host and secure the website.

11. Cookies and Similar Technologies

APA Citation Builder’s citation project can use browser local storage when you explicitly choose to remember your reference list on that device.

Local storage is a browser-storage technology and is not the same thing as an account-based cloud database.

The current citation tool does not require advertising or behavioral-profiling technology in order to generate citations.

If the deployed website uses additional cookies or similar technologies for necessary WordPress functionality, security, analytics, advertising, or another service, their use must be reflected in the website’s live consent and privacy information where required.

If we introduce non-essential analytics, advertising, or similar tracking technologies, we will update this policy and implement any consent controls required by applicable law.

12. How We Use Information

Depending on the feature you use, information may be processed to:

• provide the website and citation workspace
• save a project in your browser when you request it
• perform a metadata lookup that you request
• cache public bibliographic lookup results
• protect lookup services against excessive requests
• respond to contact messages
• investigate citation-formatting reports
• correct website or content errors
• maintain security
• diagnose technical problems
• comply with applicable legal obligations

We do not use citation-project information to claim authorship of your work.

13. Legal Bases for Processing

Where the GDPR applies, the legal basis depends on the type of processing.

We may rely on:

Legitimate interests

We may process limited technical and contact information where necessary for legitimate interests such as:

• operating the website
• securing the service
• preventing abuse
• troubleshooting technical problems
• responding to voluntary inquiries
• maintaining and improving the reliability of the service

We consider these interests against the privacy rights of users and aim to minimize the information processed.

Consent or user choice

Where processing depends on an optional choice, such as remembering a citation project in browser storage or using a non-essential feature, that choice is respected.

Where applicable law requires consent for a particular cookie, storage technology, analytics service, advertising service, or other processing, we will seek consent before using it.

Legal obligations

Information may be processed or retained when necessary to comply with an applicable legal obligation.

14. When Information May Be Shared

We do not sell personal data as a data-broker business.

Information may be processed by or disclosed to third parties only where necessary for the relevant purpose, including:

Hosting and infrastructure providers

Providers used to host, secure, deliver, or maintain the website may process technical information such as IP addresses and server logs.

Metadata providers

If you request lookup, the relevant bibliographic query is sent to the appropriate lookup provider, such as Crossref or Open Library.

Email or form providers

Messages you send through the contact form or email may be processed by services used to deliver and store those communications.

Legal or security requirements

Information may be disclosed where required by law, a valid legal process, or where reasonably necessary to protect the website, users, or others from fraud, abuse, security threats, or unlawful activity.

We do not send your entire reference project to a metadata provider simply because you use the citation workspace.

15. International Data Processing

APA Citation Builder is operated from Italy, but some hosting, infrastructure, email, metadata, or other service providers may process information in other countries.

This can include countries outside the European Economic Area.

Where international transfers of personal data are subject to the GDPR or another applicable privacy law, appropriate legal safeguards must be used where required.

Third-party services also operate under their own privacy policies and legal obligations.

16. Data Retention

Different information is retained for different periods or according to different criteria:

We aim to follow the GDPR principle of storage limitation and not keep personal data longer than necessary for its purpose.

17. Your Privacy Rights

If the GDPR applies to you, you may have rights including:

• the right to be informed about processing
• the right to request access to your personal data
• the right to request correction of inaccurate data
• the right to request deletion in applicable circumstances
• the right to request restriction of processing
• the right to object to certain processing
• the right to data portability where applicable
• the right to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent

These rights are subject to the conditions and exceptions provided by applicable law.

To make a privacy request, email:

contact@apacitationbuilder.com

We may need enough information to verify that a request relates to you before taking action.

Under the GDPR, organizations generally must respond to qualifying data-subject requests without undue delay and normally within one month, subject to permitted extensions in appropriate cases.

The European Commission provides an overview of individual data-protection rights.

Depending on where you live, you may also have additional privacy rights under national, state, or other applicable law.

18. Complaints

If you have a concern about how APA Citation Builder handles personal data, you are encouraged to contact us first at:

contact@apacitationbuilder.com

Because the site is operated from Italy, individuals may also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali, the Italian data-protection authority.

Information about complaints is available on the Garante’s official website.

You may also have the right to contact another competent supervisory authority depending on your location and the applicable law.

19. Security

We take reasonable technical and organizational measures intended to protect the website and the information processed through it.

However, no website, browser-storage mechanism, email system, or internet transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

You can reduce unnecessary privacy risk by:

• avoiding sensitive information in citation projects
• not submitting private or signed URLs for metadata lookup
• keeping confidential research out of contact messages
• clearing browser-saved projects when they are no longer needed
• protecting downloaded JSON backup files
• keeping your browser and device secure

20. Third-Party Websites

APA Citation Builder links to third-party websites, including official APA resources, metadata providers, academic resources, and other external sites.

We do not control the privacy practices of those websites.

When you follow an external link, the destination site’s privacy policy and terms apply to your use of that service.

21. No Automated Decisions With Legal or Similar Significant Effects

APA Citation Builder formats citation information and assists with bibliographic workflows.

The current service is not designed to make automated decisions about you that produce legal effects or similarly significant effects, such as decisions about employment, credit, education admission, insurance, or eligibility for public services.

22. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when the website, legal requirements, or data flows change.

Examples include adding:

• new metadata providers
• analytics
• advertising
• accounts
• cloud synchronization
• subscriptions
• new citation workflows involving uploaded files
• new contact or support services

When the policy changes materially, the effective date at the top of this page will be updated.

23. Contact

For privacy questions, requests, or concerns:

Muzammal Amin APA Citation Builder Italy Email: contact@apacitationbuilder.com

For general support or citation-error reports, you can also use the Contact APA Citation Builder page.